Bolt Unlimited
by H. Writer
Summary: alternate reality to the movie. takes place when Penny's a teen. minor crossovers involved
1. Chapter 1

now i thought this would be pretty interesting: an alternate reality to the movie Bolt. the first chapter takes places after Penny gets Bolt just to get everybody up to speed here. the story is gonna be done with the thoughts of certain characters throughout the story. there will be plenty of characters new and old and otherwise throughout the story. not to mention a few love interests for you romantics. so read on fellow readers and writers.

**Ch. 1: Leaving Home**

"I'm home!" a teenage girl call out as she tossed both hear back pack and gym bag aside. She kicked the door closed as she took off her jacket and flung it aside. She wore a red shirt and blue jeans, and her shoulder length hair supported a red head band in it. _What? You gotta a problem with me kicking the door closed? Well get in line because my mom's at the top of the list. And at least I close the door, so you can't really say anything, especially since I live in Santa Monica. Anyway, you probably want an introduction. Not really anything much to say about me. I'm average height, have freckles, and my eyes are hazel. I guess you could say my body's well porportioned, surprisingly enough. I'm a gymnast and I know a few kinds martial arts. O-kay, so I'm not your average girl, although you probably got that already. Oh by the way, the name's Penny Aita. And to make it clear, don't call me Penelope._

She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. "Mom! I said I'm home!" Nothing. She sighed exasperatedly. _Probably off on one of her so called 'business trips.' Knowing her she probably left a note on the fridge. Typical mom, right?_ She turned to her right and walked into the kitchen. Immediately after she walked in she turned to the refridgerator on her left. She gave it a thorogh look over.

"Okay. Not home and didn't leave a note," she said to herself. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Whatever." She opened the fridge, took out a microwavable burrito, then kicked the door closed. She opened the door to microwave opposite of the fridge and placed the burrito inside, closing the door afterwards. She set the microwave for one minute thirty seconds, then pressed the start button. The microwave started humming. _You think I'd should be concerned for my mom's whereabouts, right? Well what part of average don't you understand. Alright, so I am a little worried, but if she is on an actual business trip, then she probably left in too much of a rush to leave a note, right?_

Minutes later the girl walked into the living room with her burrito and a bottle of soda. She fell on the sofa, set her soda on the lamp table on her right, and placed her feet on the glass one in front of her as she reclined on the sofa. She grabbed the remote from the lamp table to her right and turned on the television. _Like I said before, I'm not your average, prissy, sissy girl. No. I'm the kind of girl who can be your worst enemy if you piss me off._ She took a bite of the burrito as she watched an episode of NCIS. It was a few minutes before she heard the sound of a crash in a room. She sat up a looked to her right. _If that's not my dog, this guy's gonna be sorry he ever set foot in this place._ She got up from the sofa and headed into the hall. Just as she passed the bathroom, however, she stopped. _Wait how did they get passed my dog?_ She shook her head and continued on. _Yeah, I know. It took me that long to think of that._

She walked into her bedroom and stopped. She stared at the room with wide eyes. _Holy crap!_ Everything in her room was tossed, turned over, and torn apart. Her entire room was in chaos. _Yeah, I doubt my dog would do this._ She took a few steps inside and looked around.

_You ever seen those martial artists in the movies that always know when someone's behind them._ All of sudden, Penny trust her right elbow back into the stomach of a man, then slammed her fist into his groin. When he doubled over Penny lifted her same side leg over him and brought her heel down onto his back. _Yeah, I'm one of them._ She turned back to the door to see two more standing there, one overly muscled, the other extremely skinny. She heard her closet door open and out stepped four more all of whom had an atheletic build. They all wore the same dark blue tights and same colored helmets with black visor. Penny stood so that her legs were two shoudler lengths apart. Her back leg was more bent than her front. Her arms were bent, her right more closer to her face, and her hands flat and her fingers close together. _Five against one. Hardly fair right? You keep believing that sport._ The first of the guys from the closest at her. Penny lifted the knee of her back leg and drove the outside edge of her heel into his stomach. She pivoted on her supporting leg and snapped her lower leg up into his face, knocking him over. She brought down her lower leg and shook her head while smirking. _Why do they alwasys do that?_ Two more of the masked men from the closet came at her. She ducked down and rammed her shoulder in the legs of the left intruder, sending him onto his back behind her. She then grabbed the wrist of the second intruder then his opposite shoulder and flipped him over her back without much effort, being lower than him, slamming him onto the other. She pulled her fist back then struck the guy on top in his face. Immediately after she stood up she ducked under a haymaker punch and turned about face. She struck the intruder with an uppercut to the groin first then the stomach, then grabbed the back of his neck and kneed him in the face.

When Penny turned to the final two however, she was struck in the jaw. She turned a 180 as she stumbled back and fell. She pushed herself up and looked back to the buff intruder who struck her. Blood trickled from the left edge of her lips. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Is that all you got?" she said. The musculed masked man lifted both of his arms. Suddenly a white dog rushed in and stood in front of Penny. It was a white German Shepard, with a black mask around it's eyes, black ears, and a black lightning bolt on both sides of its body that strecthed from the shoulders to the middle of its hindlegs.

"That's the dog!" yelled the skinny intruder.

_Wait! What do they want with my dog?_ "Bolt! Get out of here!" Penny cried. The dog stood its ground, growling at the buff intruder.

"Come here, you," he demanded as he reached for the dog. When he was close enough the dog lashed out and snapped its jaws down on the guy's left arm. The man yelled out as he tried to pull away from the dog.

"Lego! Let go!" The dog was surprisingly stronger as it held tight despite all of the shaking. He tried to kick at the dog but his eyes went wide when his leg made contact. The dog did let go and shook itself of the attack as the burly man hopped on one leg while clutching his other leg in pain.

"AAAHHHHH!!!" he cried out. "I think my leg's broken!!"

Penny saw that as an advantage and stood up. She moved passed her dog towards the muscled guard and used a roundhouse kick to his right arm. The attack nearly broke foot, but the impact forced the man to land on his broken leg. The man yelled out in even more pain as he raised his leg again. She kicked with her opposite leg, using another roundhouse to kick him in the inner thigh. Immediately after she recoiled the leg, she twisted her body then snapped the top of her foot into his groin forcing the man onto his broken leg again. The pain was to much for the man to bare. In one final attack, Penny sweeped the back of her fist into the man's shin, and side-stepped to avoid being fallen upon.

Penny hissed as she grabbed her fist then heard a clicking sound. She looked to the lanky intruder still at her bedroom door. He pointed a gun at her. She didn't move, as panic took over her. The man was about to pull the trigger when he yelled in pain. Bolt had clamped down on the raider's shin. He tried to pull the leg out of the dog's grip. When he finally knew he couldn't he aimed the gun at that dog.

"BOLT!!! NO!!!" Penny screamed. The dog looked up at the gun and stared wide-eyed at it. In a few seconds the gun suddenly exploded in the man's hand. Penny's mouth was agape. _What just happened?_

Bolt let go of the intruder's leg and looked to his human. She stared back at her dog. The scrawny guy took the opportunity to limp out of Penny's room. He was near the bathroom when a bark caught his attention. When he turned he was tackled to the ground by the dog. He pinned the man's arms to the ground and stood over him growling. Penny appeared behind him.

"Alright, I want some answers, pencil neck," Penny demanded.

"I don't care if you have some crazy, mutant dog," he retorted, trying to keep his calm. "I'm not talking to some punk, little girl."

Penny deepened her glare. "Oh really?"

Yells bubbled from the man as his head was dunked into the toilet. He struggled trying to get out but Penny proved to be stronger. She lifted his head out of the toilet and slammed him up against the edge of the bathtub.

"Still don't wanna talk?" she said with a sly grin.

The man gasped for air. "Not...a chance," he breathed in reply.

Her grin turned into a teeth baring frown. "How 'bout I slam the toilet seat on your head while dunk you in there?" She felt something tug at her pant leg. She turned to see her dog as he sat on his hauches. He gave her a pleading look and whined. Penny's eyes widened. She let go of the man and turned to her dog.

"Did you... just talk?" she asked her dog.

Bolt tilted his head at her. "Of course I can talk! Why wouldn't I be able to talk?"

Penny was utterly horrified. _O-kay, it's official: I'm losing my mind._ "Uh, well because you're a **dog**?"

"Wait," Bolt said. "You understood me?"

Penny waited for a few seconds before she said, "Yeah." Bolt had the same shocked expression on his face.

"Are you talking to your dog?" inquired the lanky man. The reply he got was a kick to his face.

Penny crawled a little closer to her dog and sat on her knees. She stared her dog for a while. _O-kay. Recap. First, my mom isn't home; some weird guys in tights come busting into my home; and my dog is some kind of mutant. Not really complaining about my dog though. It's just...weird._

"So what now?" Bolt asked tilting his head.

Penny shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Don't know. You tell me."

"Well there's got to be a reason why those humans came here," he suggested then he tilted his head and added, "Other than coming after me of course."

Penny straightened up and crossed her arms. _He has a point. There's got to be a reason why these guys tore up the place._

She stood up and looked back at Bolt. "Watch pencil neck here," she ordered. "If he wakes up, knock him out again, alright?"

Bolt nodded and said, "Can do."

Penny walked out of her bathroom and headed towards the end of the hall. _I'm definately gonna need a lot of serious therapy after this._

Penny pushed open the door to another bedroom. This one was just as trashed as the her's. Penny crossed her arms and huffed as she looked around the room. _Mom isn't gonna be to happy about this._

It took her several long, tiring, sickening minutes of thorough searching her mother's room and still Penny came up with nothing. Penny exhaled as her shoulders fell against the wall. She let herself slide down it until she was sitting with her legs outstretched and stared at the cieling. _Like I said before: I'm definately gonna need **a lot** of serious therapy. I've gone through stuff in my mom's room I could have lived without._

_I still don't understand why she had to divorce dad. And I wish I knew why he was away so often and wouldn't tell us why._ Penny sighed. _I just hope that they're alright._ A whining noise caught her attention. She turned her head to the door to see Bolt sitting in the doorway. He pushed himself up and walked over to Penny. After he sat down next to her, she rubbed his head and smiled.

"Thought I told you to keep an eye on that guy," she said.

"I did. I just made sure he couldn't get away," he replied. "Oh and the others escaped."

Penny put her head against the wall again and looked up at the cieling. "Great." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and released it. _I should be concerned about those guy that escaped, but right now I'm to tired to give a crap._

"Found anything yet?" Bolt asked after a moment. Penny just shook her head.

"Want me to go check your room?" he offered tilting his head to the side again.

She turned her head toward him and smirked. "I'm sure you could with that strength of yours." Bolt nodded then trotted out the door.

_Yeah, I know it probably isn't good of me to make my dog check my room, but I'm tired, and, hey, he offered._ She rested her head against the wall again and closed her eyes.

It was night before something nudged her. Penny stirred and opened her eyes sleepily.

"_You_ _awake_?" someone whispered.

Penny turned her head to her dog who was sitting next to her on his haunches. "I am, now," she said groggily. She sat forward and put a hand over her eyes. "Did you"-she yawned-"find anything?" She opened one eye and looked at her dog.

Bolt shook his head with a whine. Penny sighed and closed her eye, then asked, "What about my laptop?"

"Your what?" Bolt asked tilting his head.

"The red, folding, whirring thing."

"Oh! Yeah, I found that. It was actually the only thing that wasn't touched."

Penny looked her dog and smiled. "Well that's good to know." _The knuckheads searched my entire room and leave my laptop untouched? Either they're not the brightest robbers ever, or I'm just incredibly lucky._ She pushed herself up from the ground and walked out of her mothers room with Bolt trotting after her.

Penny was on her laptop checking her mail. Bolt was next to her with his paws on the desk. "What are you looking for exactly?" Bolt asked.

"Don't know," Penny shrugged. "Maybe something that would explain why those guys came her." She paused before she continued, "I would talk to that guy again, but I don't think I'll get anything out of him?"

"Maybe you didn't use the right method?" Bolt insisted.

Penny gave a quizzical look to her dog. "What are you saying? We threaten him with killing?"

"Hey, slamming a toilet lid on his head and pushing him in the water would have killed him," Bolt asserted. "All I'm saying is that we hang him over the side of something very high. **Scare** the truth out of him."

Penny had a sly grin on her face. "I think I've got the best place, too." Suddenly her computer dinged. Penny looked at her computer. A message read:

**_Web cam message received. Want to read it?_**

Bolt tilted his head. "Web cam message?"

Penny looked back at her dog. _O-kay. A dog that can talk and read. Guess I shouldn't be surprised though. I read books with him from when I was eight to when I was eleven. Again this is the part where not being average comes in._ She turned pack to the screen and clicked the yes button.

Another window popped up in the middle of the screen. The background was dimmly lit but a man in the foreground could be seen in near perfect clarity. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and side burns that stopped at his cheeks. He wore an unbuttoned labcoat and a green buttoned up t-shirt. Penny hardly reckonized him but she had an idea.

"Dad?"

"Penny, this is your father," he said in a low voice. "I don't have much time, but I'll give you what I can. They have your mother and I and are going after you and your dog next. Especially your dog. Who they are I can't tell you."

There was a some muffled yelling that caused the man to look up for a second. He looked back at the screen and continued. "Now, I can only tell you this: I gave Bolt superpowers. I can't tell you what they are because of counter measures they could probably develop against most of them."

The was a banging sound, which made the man flinch. He looked up uneasily as someone yelled outside. He looked back at the screen and said, "I'm running out of time," he said hurriedly then added, "The scooter I got for your eleventh birthday has enhanced capabilies to it and I've sent upgrades and a location to your laptop. The installation should be done by now. Hurry, Penny."

The banging sound came again, this time louder and more insistent. "Be careful, goodluck, your mother sends her love, and your father loves you."

A crashing sound was heard and light filled the room, before the screen went black. Penny and Bolt sat in silence for a few seconds.

Bolt looked at his person and broke the silence first. "Well that answers our question."

Penny pushed her chair back. "Not really," she said as she got up and headed to the door. "Come on, Bolt." The dog pushed himself off of the desk.

* * *

The scrawny man yelled as Bolt held him over the edge of the Lincoln Boulevard bridge above the Santa Monica freeway.

"Please! I'll talk! I'LL TALK!!!" he pleaded to Penny who was looking over the edge.

"I want to know who you work for and what he wants," Penny demanded.

"I-I-I think his name i-is Calico," he answered. "All I know is he wants whatever powers your dog has."

"Where's his hide out?"

"I-I don't know!"

"Funny, I believe you," Penny said then leaned over the rail. "Who does know?"

"I don't know, some guy named Anthony Jeremia! That's all I know, I swear!!"

Penny stood straight, looked her dog, and nodded. Bolt pulled the guy over the edge and laid him on the sidewalk. Penny knelt down and struck him in the jaw with the outer edge of her hand. The man fell unconscious.

Bolt looked at his person and asked, "So what now?"

Penny sighed as a modified '06 Pontiac GTO pulled up behind them. It had an 8", double deck spoiler, 20", silver rims and had tiger stripe design with blue as the main body and orange as the stripes. A man in grey sports coat, white shirt, and jeans stepped from the car. He was tall but rather was rather fat, had blondish-red hair and brown eyes. "'Scuse me, miss," he said as he walked over, "I got report of a man being hung over this bridge." He stopped a few feet from them and crossed his arms. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

Penny looked to the officer. "And a hello to you too, Uncle Jack."

* * *

Penny's uncle was a detective for the LAPD. He wasn't the best detective they had, but he was above good. Despite his appearance, he is able to give chase to most criminals who decide they'd rather run.

The two were at a Denny's restaurant with Bolt sleeping in the car. Jack had already called for a squad car to pick up the scrawny man who raided Penny's house. She told her uncle most of what happened, leaving out the super dog part, and the parentnapping.

"I always knew you were a scrapper," Jack chuckled. He took a sip of his coffee then set it down. "You know what I don't get is, how was your dog able to hold the guy over the bridge. I know those dogs are strong but they can't be that strong."

Penny rubbed the back the back of her neck and looked away. "I may not be the best, but I do know when someone's hiding something," he remarked. "Come, Pens. You can tell your uncle."

Penny sighed. "You remember my dad right?"

"The guy who was almost always gone? Yeah, I remember him. Why?"

"He contacted me on my laptop," she began she said in a low voice. "Says some guys after me and my dog."

"Who? What happened?" he asked.

"From what I guess his name's Calico," she answered. "Nothing on where he is, but I know he has my parents."

"They have my, sis!!" Jack exclaimed causing several people to look at them. Jack cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. Penny sunk in her seat, and put a hand over her eyes.

Jack leaned closer to his neice. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

Penny looked to the GTO and saw part of Bolt's side. From what she could tell he was sleeping soundly.

"I'm gonna see if I can find this guy," she finally said.

"Kid, you may be a fighter, but you can't just go off and take down some big organization by yourself."

She looked back at her uncle with determination in her eyes. She leaned closer so that her face was within inches of his. "I'm going to find my parents, and you're not stopping me."

Jack sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. He shook his head and chuckled. "I think you're mother said something about you having your father's determination," he remarked. "Alright, but at least let me give you some funds you might need."

* * *

Bolt hadn't slept all night. He was lying wide awake on his side in the backyard. _I can't believe we're doing this! This has got to be the absolute most craziest thing ever! I mean, my human is risking her life and probably my own by doing this._ Bolt rolled over onto his stomach as the sun started appeared above the buildings. _We don't even know what we're going up against! Still Penny is determined to save her parents and stop this Calico guy. And if what her father said is true then I can really protect her. I mean she can fend for herself but I just don't like the idea of Penny getting hurt on this...mission I guess you would call it._ Bolt sighed through his nose. He straightened his front legs keeping his back legs down then did the same vice-versa. _Well, time to go wake Penny._ Bolt trotted to the back door and jumped through the dog door. Once he was in he walked through the kitchen, into the livingroom, then into the hall, and finally into Penny's room.

Most of her room was still a mess. Penny was lying on her back arms on her stomach with a blanket covering her from her feet to just under her shoulders. Bolt hopped up onto her bed, sat down next to her, and barked twice. She stirred in her bed for moment before settling back into sleep. Bolt nudged her shoulder which only made her turn onto her side. _And she want's to save her parents. Hmm. What was the one thing Penny hated most._ Something clicked inside Bolt's head. He straightened his back legs and crept closer to Penny he leaned over her until his muzzle was near her ear.

"_Ohh, Penelopeee_," he whispered. That alone caused Penny's eyes to snap wide open. She shot up in her bed with Bolt being quick to jump out of the way.

"Alright, who's here and who just called me Penelope?" she demanded only to find her dog staring at her with a mischieveous grin.

"Real funny dog breath," Penny grumbled.

Bolt shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it was."

Penny yawned and stretched her arms. She looked towards the window and shielded her eyes with a hand. After tossing the covers aside she slid out of the bed and headed to the dresser. She picked out a red tank top, jean shorts, some under garments, and then headed to her bathroom.

"You sure you want to go through with this?" Bolt asked as Penny threw her sleeping shirt out of the bathroom.

"You're worried about my safety aren't you?" she called from the bathroom. Running water could be heard from the bathroom.

"Primarily, yes!" Bolt yelled back. He could hear Penny's sigh of relief. He walked his front legs forward and laid on his stomach.

"Do you German Shepards always have to be so over protective?" she quipped. "You're worring over nothing. I can hold my own."

"Uh, do you remember what happened with that over-sized human? Or do you want to be brought back to **painful** memories?"

"So I got caught by a sucker punch," she said dismissively. "Big deal."

"By the looks of the human; I'd say it was a pretty big deal," he commented. "If it weren't for the smell, and the lack of claws, I'd of thought he was those large bears you see in those zoos."

"You mean a Grizzly?"

"No. Not big enough," he stated, shaking his head.

"Again, I know of ways to take down people twice my size," she alleged. "I can handle anything."

"What about, what do you call 'em," he thought for a moment, "guns, or knives? Stuff like that?"

Bolt could here Penny grumble in the shower. "I know what to do if someone pulls out those kinds of thing, Bolt." The sound of the water stopped. "Now could you stop asking so many questions?"

Bolt sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he drawled out.

After Penny got dressed, her and her dog ate and packed her backpack with clothes, sleeping gear, other necessities, and of course her computer.

She was sitting on her knees, looked through bag making sure not to mess anything up. "Let's see laptop, clothes, tooth brush." She looked up and thought aloud, "What else am I missing?"

"Food?" Bolt suggested.

Penny rolled her eyes. "We'll get food as we go," Penny said without looking over her shoulder. "I told you that already!"

"Geez. Sorry."

She adjusted her position so that she wasn't sitting on her knees. She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe my Ipod."

"You bring that and you're not gonna bring any food?" This time, Penny gave a glaring glance at her dog. Bolt held up his paws. "Sorry!"

A thought came to Penny's mind. "I got it!" She began to shift around the remain clothes in her room until she found what she was looking for. She lifted out a red one piece bathing suit. "A swim suit could come in handy."

"What are the odds we're gonna go swimming?"

"Either for when we take a break from searching or when we need to go under water," she replied then added, "Duh!" She stuffed the suit into her bag and zipped it up. "Done."

She slipped on her backpack and stood up. "Alright. Let's go."

* * *

Bolt bounded along side Penny as she rode her scooter down the street.

"So, where is this place your dad wants you to go first?" Bolt inquired looking up at his human.

"All the way in New York," Penny said in a displeased tone, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

Bolt looked ahead. "You don't sound to happy."

"Do you have any idea how far New York is?" Penny asked.

Bolt looked back at his human. "I don't even know where New York is."

Penny sighed heavily and said, "Let's just say; it's gonna take us a while to get there."

With that they continued on their way.


	2. Chapter 2

before we begin, i want to you know thank those that have sent in the reviews and to those who've made suggestions. now anybody else is welcome to send in those review so long as it ain't bad though. this is not a place of shooting people down in flames. _it's called courtesy. _but anyway, whatever you got to say (again, so long as it's not bad) send them in. now on with the story.

**Ch. 2: Oh, Where Has My Super Dog Gone?**

_Boy. And I thought the flight was boring._ Penny was tapping her foot impatiently at the baggage claim, a hand on her hip, holding a strap of her bag with her other hand. Along with the impatience evident in her face, she also had a slightly worried look. _The food was bad, the movie sucked. The only entertainment I had was my computer, and…well let's face it, Myspace, Facebook; those get boring after a time. Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm a little worried, well I've just been waiting for a few minutes, but I'm just hoping that my dog and my scooter didn't get put on a different flight; especially my dog._

A barking noise caught her attention. She looked up and saw her dog in a carrier and a red scooter bag next to it. Bolt barked again a couple more times as Penny went to pick him up and almost dropped the cage when she did. She grabbed her scooter bag, set it down next to her, and then went to open the cage of the carrier. Bolt leapt out of the carrier, shook himself, then stretched his legs and his back. He looked at Penny as she hooked a lease on him, gave her a sad look, and whined.

"I know you don't like these things, boy," she said, "but I just don't want you getting lost in a big city like this."

This time he lifted and tilted his head, gave her a quizzical look, and a grunt that almost sounded like Scooby-Doo.

Penny then realized what she said. She picked up her scooter bag, and said "Oh, don't start." With she started walking with Bolt trailing unenthusiastically.

Penny weaved through cars in streets New York streets on her scooter. Bolt was sitting just behind her back foot, trying to hold on as best as he can.

"So where in New York do we have to go?" Bolt asked in a panicked tone.

"Some place in the Upper East Side of Manhattan," Penny replied in a flat tone.

Bolt picked up on the tone instantly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she answered in the same tone. "You shouldn't be speaking. What if someone hears you?"

Bolt yipped as Penny passed suddenly between cars. A taxi driver honked at her, which made Bolt winch.

"How could anyone hear me in this place?"

"Just let me think," Penny said. "Okay?"

"Alright, but can we stop and get something to eat?" Bolt asked. Penny sighed. _Okay, I know I love my dog and everything, but now that he can talk…well I get the feeling he's gonna get on my nerves. **Eventually**._ Penny heard her stomach growling and placed a hand on it.

"Sounds like someone agrees with me," Bolt pointed out smugly then yipped again as Penny swerved into an empty part of the lane.

"What was that about?" he questioned.

"Thought the car ahead of me was making a pass."

Bolt looked around for a few seconds before looking back at Penny. "What car?"

Penny just smirked to herself then pressed a button on the GPS on the handlebar of the scooter.

"Search diners that allow dogs in New York," she commanded.

As she continued through the streets, a cat overlooked them from a balcony. It wasn't an ordinary cat, however. This cat had a mini-camera hanging from its collar.

Parked outside of the Tom and Jerry restaurant was Penny's scooter. Inside, she had ordered a burger with the works, a Mountain Dew and some Beneful for Bolt. Penny hadn't finished her drink, or her food. She was sitting there thinking as her dog finished eating his meal. He sat back on his haunches, licked his lips, and then looked at Penny, seeing she was in deep thought. When he hopped up on to the seat, Penny looked at him and he gave a whine. She smiled and rubbed a hand over his head for a few seconds.

"Just thinking about a lot of stuff, boy," she said as if she knew what he was thinking. She turned and looked out of the window, taking her hand off his head.

Bolt tilted his head then nudged her arm with his snout.

She looked back at him, before saying, "Come on. Let's get going."

Bolt tilted his head again, and then looked at the remainder of her food. She rolled her eyes, and grabbed what was left of her soda.

"Fine you can have it," she said smiling. The dog reached for the burger and snapped up the leftovers. She shook her head and chuckled before finishing the rest of her soda.

It was around late afternoon when Penny came to a stop at the Upper East Side Affinia Hotel. Bolt hopped off the scooter as Penny stepped off, and walked it inside, with Bolt trotting alongside. A tall, burly door attendant greeted Penny and opened the door for her. She was stopped however when he noticed the dog.

"I'm sorry miss, no pets allowed in the hotel," he stated.

Penny looked at Bolt, who looked back at her and tilted his head.

She looked back up at the doorman and said, "You're kidding."

"Sorry miss," he shrugged. "Hotel policies."

"Are you sure I can't just bring him into the lobby with me?"

The doorman shook his head, before he looked at her and offered, "Tell you what; how 'bout I watch your dog for you?"

Penny instantly became suspicious. She gave the doorman a side-glance.

"Why should I?"

Surprised by the question the door attendant said, "I just offered, miss. There's no reason to be rude."

Bolt tugged at the pant leg of Penny's jeans, then sat back on his haunches and barked. Penny looked back at Bolt and then remembered what her dad told her. She sighed before looking back at the doorman.

"Sorry. I just had a run of bad luck lately" she explained then handed the doorman the lease. She turned back to Bolt and knelt down.

"Now, I want you to be a good boy, okay?" she said rubbing the dogs head and gave a quick wink. Bolt wagged his tail and panted. Penny stood up as the door attendant held open the door again, allowing her inside. Penny rested her scooter a nearby wall and looked around.

_Boy. I've never seen a place this fancy before. Not because my family's poor or anything. It just that all of the hotels I've been to weren't this fancy._

She went over to the main desk where a nerdy looking woman, wearing braces and stylish glasses, was standing. _A little bit old to be wearing braces, don't ya think?_

"Good morning, miss," the woman greeted cheerful, her voice sounding normal. "What can I do for you?"

_At least she sounds normal._ "Yeah, I'm looking for Jennifer Aita."

"Just a sec," the woman said as she turned to a computer on her right. She typed a few key, and clicked a couple times for a few minutes before she turned back to Penny.

"She's in Suite 115," she said. "Are you a relative?"

_Nerdy, but trusting. That can't be a good thing._ Penny nodded and said, "Yeah."

"Alright. I'll call her and see if she knows you," the woman stated as she picked up the phone.

_Shoulda seen that coming._ Penny set her elbow on the desk, and rested her jaw on her fist as she waited. Her thoughts began drifting off as she waited. The woman had to call her three times before she snapped out of her trance.

"Miss Aita is expecting you," the woman avowed.

"Thanks," Penny said as she pushed away from the desk.

In a few moments Penny had came to a room that said Suite 115 next to it. She hammered on the door a few times and waited. It wasn't long before an attractive brunette woman in her late twenties opened the door. Penny was shocked and soon freaked out when she saw that she only had a towel covering her body.

"Long time, no see, Pens" she asked with a smirk on her wet face. "I remember you being much littler than you are now." She motioned her hand and said, "Come on in."

Penny skeptically walked in the room and her eyes widened again as she marveled at the surprisingly large Suite.

"Holy crap!" she found herself saying.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that," she said smugly as she closed the door.

Penny stared a little longer before turning back to her relative. "Okay. A couple questions," she stated. "One: how can you afford a place like this? And two: why are you in nothing but a towel?" She used her fingers to count off the questions.

"Well, one," she using her fingers, as well. "I have a good paying job that I like. And two: I was taking a shower when I got the call." She said the last sentence in mock annoyance.

Penny held up her hands defensively. "My bad."

Her aunt gave dismissive wave. "Aah, don't worry about it. Anyway, you hungry. Got some snacks in the fridge." She nodded her head to the kitchen on her right.

She shook her head. "Nah. I just ate a while ago."

"So why are you here?" she asked as she walked over to the couch. She plopped down on the couch before she asked. "And wears that dog of yours that my bro told me about?"

"Outside," Penny replied in a glum tone while she rolled her eyes. "And he's actually part of the reason why I'm here."

"Wait you left your dog outside?" her aunt asked leaning forward.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I left him with the doorman."

"We don't have a doorman," Jennifer stated, shaking her head.

Penny's eyes widened in horror.

"Quick! Get to door 'n see if it's too late," she ordered. "I'll throw some clothes on while you do that."

Penny nodded. She ran to the door, threw it open and, ran down the hall.

When she got outside, she panting slightly, looking from side to side. She didn't see the doorman or her dog anywhere in the crowd.

"BOLT!!!" she cried out.

_Okay. What happened?_ Bolt's eyes fluttered open halfway before closing again. The fluttered open again and he noticed that he wasn't sitting by the hotel door anymore but in a cage. He jumped to his feet and looked around in panic but nearly fell over when the cage jumped. He looked out of the bars and saw that he was in a car, see buildings go by as it drove. Bolt couldn't smell Penny but could smell someone who had a spicy scent. The scent made Bolt sneeze.

"Sounds like someone's awake," someone said. Bolt recognized the voice.

"Don't worry," the doorman said. "You'll be in the bossman's hands before you know it."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Bolt mumbled as he backed up as far as he could. He lowered his head then charged through the cage door then the right front car door. Bolt fell into the street and rolled a couple of times before he came to a stop at the curb. He shook his head when he heard a screech and looked back at the car to see that it had stopped. Bolt got up on the sidewalk and started to run in the opposite direction as the doorman stepped out of the car.

"HEY!!!" he yelled then started running after the dog.

Bolt weaved through and around the legs of the pedestrians, while the doorman shoved them out of the way. He made a left into an alley and kept running as the doorman stopped at the alley. He looked down it and saw Bolt running off.

"Come back here!!" he demanded as he took off after the dog. Bolt turned down another alley and ran back into the sidewalk causing people to jump as he ran in front of them and into a park. He leapt over a fence and charged through a flock of pigeon, which flew off. He kept running until he slipped and fell down a slope into a bush.

The doorman stopped at the top of the slope, doubled over, and put his hands on his knees as he gasped for air. After a few moments, he stood straight up and looked around.

"Sheesh…That dog…can run," he panted. His breath was heavy and ragged. He reached into a pocket, pulled out an inhaler, shook it, took off the cap, and took a puff. His breathing had smoothed out but it was still heavy.

"I didn't sign up for this," he breathed then turned and trudged away in the opposite direction.

Bolt peered from the bottom of the bush, and then crawled out. He shook himself of the leaves that were stuck to his fur, then sat on his haunches and looked around.

_Great. I'm alone in New York, Manhattan, or whatever and I have no way of contacting my human._ Bolt sighed.

"Well, better start searching," he said to himself as he stood up. He then started sniffing the ground and went on his way to finding Penny.

Penny lashed out at a hanging punching bag several times in rapid succession. Her face contorted in rage as she thrashed the bag.

_Why? Why did I fall for that!?_ She roared as she swung her leg in a wide-arc roundhouse kick. When she made contact, the chain snapped and the bag fell a few feet to the left.

She breathed heavily as Jennifer walked up to her. She was now wearing a sleeveless, v-neck t-shirt and shorts that stopped just above her knees.

"Jeez, kid. Tone it down a notch," she said. "That's my fourth one so far."

Penny wheeled around and gave her aunt a terrifying glare that didn't seem to affect her at all.

"TONE IT DOWN A NOTCH!!!" she roared. "SOME THUG MAKES OFF WITH MY DOG AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH!?!"

"I know you're upset," Jennifer said, "but yelling isn't gonna help, and it's gonna get me kicked out."

Penny turned away from her with a growling huff. Jennifer walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I've a dog of my own," she began, "and I would be mad, also, if someone took my dog."

Penny glanced up at her. "You have a dog?" she asked in a flat toned voice.

Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. "More like a wolf, but that's beside the point." Penny turned away from her aunt again. "Look we'll find your dog. I promise, alright?"

Penny looked at her aunt again who smiled at her.

"So, what were those reasons why you came down here?" Penny raised an eyebrow. Jennifer shrugged and said, "It would probably help."

Penny sighed and said, "Alright. But it's kind of a long story."

It was nearing dusk as Bolt continued to sniff his way through New York City. Unknown to him however, he was a farther away from where he wanted to be, now. Bolt came out of alley, walked over to a bus stop and sat next to it. _What would Penny say in a situation like this? Oh yeah! This sucks._ Bolt sighed when he caught a scent he looked up as a teenage girl knelt down next to him. She was tan skinned with black hair and dark-eyes. "Hey, there boy," she said soothingly. "Are you lost?" Bolt was about to nod to the questioned when he remembered that he wasn't an average dog. He just whimpered instead. The girl rubbed a hand on his head. She then looked at his collar. The tag hanging from it was circle with a bolt in it. The girl flipped it over and studied the back.

_Okay, you're probably thinking why am I letting her so close after what happened with the last human. You're not? Then it's probably just me. But anyway, let's just say I'm a nice dog._ "Is your master's name Penny?" the girl asked. Bolt panted and wagged his tail._ It'll probably be the death of me, but I can't go around distrust almost every human again. Then again, I can't let my guard down._

The girl stood up and took out her cell phone._ A few years ago, I overheard Penny and her mother talking about putting a number on my collar just incase I got lost. Looks like it actually came in handy. I'll have to remember to tell my human about this._

After the girl dialed the number, she held the phone to her ear, and waited for someone to answer. A woman in her mid-forty peered around the wall of the bus stop. "Shelly. The bus is coming." She noticed the white German Shepard near her. "Oh, dear. What have I told you about stray dogs?"

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "Mom, this one has an owner." She put a hand on her hip. "And don't you know what happens to stray dogs?"

The girl's mom sighed as a bus pulled up. It hissed as the doors opened.

"We'll talk about this later," she said. "Right now, let's go. Before the bus leaves." With that, she turned and got on the bus.

The girl turned to the dog. "Come on, boy. I'll take you to place where you can sleep for the night. Okay?"

Bolt barked a couple of times. _Aren't I a lucky son of a bitch?_ The girl stepped into the bus as Bolt followed. _And I don't mean that as an insult. I've heard that version before._ The vehicle shut its doors and drove off. _Look it up on the, uh…internet I think it's called. Or even books. They'd have it there, I'm sure._ A cat hissed as the bus continued down the street. _Are you kidding me?_

"You've seriously had this dresser custom made," Penny said in amazement. The largest bedroom of the two-bedroom suite Jennifer was living had a dresser that opened to reveal several gadgets and weapons. _This looks like something out of a spy movie._

"Looks like something out of a spy movie, don't it, kid?" Jennifer said proudly. Penny looked at her aunt. _Coincidence._

"Yeah, it kinda does," Penny replied as she turned back to the dresser. She looked back at her aunt and asked, "Do you have some kinda enhanced dress?"

Her aunt raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Penny shook her head. "Never mind. But I gotta couple of questions."

"Again?" her aunt sighedd with a smirk on her lips. "Shoot."

"One: How can you keep this hidden from your friends?"

Jennifer shrugged. "Half of them are spies also," she replied. "The rest; never let 'em in."

"Okay and two: How'll this help me find Bolt?"

"You see," her aunt began as she reached into the dresser, "the last time you saw your dad; he built a mini-homing device into his collar." She pulled out a hand-held device that looked like a radio with a screen on it.

"What's a hand-held TV gonna do to help me find my dog?" Penny asked getting annoyed.

"Jeez, take a chill pill, Pens," Jennifer said dismissively. "I haven't even turned it on yet." She flipped a switch on the side of the device and the screen came to life. A 3-D holographic model of the Earth came from it. Suddenly Penny's cell phone started ringing. The ringtone was One Step Closer by Linkin Park. Penny took her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open.

"Yeah?" she said.

"_**Is this Penny Aeeta?**_" someone asked at the other end.

"Maybe? Who wants to know?"

"This is Shelly Bancroft," the girl replied. Bolt was next to her wagging his tail. "You lost your dog, right?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed. "You found him?"

"Yeah. He's right here next to me," Shelly replied looking at the dog. Bolt barked a few times.

"Oh my god!" she yelled throwing up her hands.

"Well that was lucky," Jennifer chuckled.

"We're taking him to our house right now," Shelly explained. "It's at-"

"Alright!! Everybody down and nobody scream!!" a man wearing sunglasses demanded holding up a gun. "You," he pointed his gun to the driver. "Keep driving! No stops! Nothing funny!"

"Damn it," Penny swore under her breath hearing the whole thing over the phone.

"What's going on?" Jennifer asked.

"_**No cell phones,**_" was the last thing Penny heard before the line went dead. She looked at her cell phone. "Son of a-"

"Alright, kid. That's enough," Jennifer said sternly.

"Now what?" Penny said in annoyance.

"Hello?" her aunt sang shaking the device that was still in her hand. She move it in front of her. "Search for Project D10, codename: Bolt," she commanded. Target crosshair appeared on the holograph and moved to several spots before coming to rest on a spot on the east side of North America. The hologram disappeared. Penny was surprised and confused. She walked over next to her aunt and saw that the spot the crosshairs settled on was over the state New York and was zooming in closer. In a few seconds, the crosshairs settled over a particular spot, in particular street in of New York. The crosshairs were on the move.

"That's in Morningside Heights," Jennifer stated.

"So how are we gonna get there?" Penny asked.

"What's the fastest way to get any place in New York, other than a helicopter?" Jennifer replied with a smile. Penny raised an eyebrow.

_Again, this sucks._ Two more thugs were taking money and anything valuable from the hostages they had on the bus. _You never see dog this kind of stuff. Well, we do steal but not like this._ Bolt continued to watch the only thug who had a gun who was near the driver. _I've got to do something to save these people. Attacking the armed human straight isn't too good of an option, especially since I'm a super dog. Actually, I can probably use that to my advantage. I just got to get him to turn around some-_

"Yo boss, I ain't goin' near dis dog," said thug that was a couple a feet away from Bolt. Both the dog and the thug looked at him, although the thug turned fully around whereas the dog glance through the side of his eyes.

"Oh, don't be scared, you big baby," snapped the armed thug.

"Yeh, man. Dat dog ain't gonna do nothin' to ya," said the other thug who was near the back of the bus.

"Yeh, well I read dat these dog's is protective of they owner," explained canine-phobic thug. "And dat these dog's bite hella hard."

_This is perfect._ Bolt turned to the armed thug and stared intently at his gun. The pistol suddenly exploded right in his hands.

"What the hell?" the lead thug said as he stared at his hand. Suddenly, a husky man right next to him got up and bear hugged the thug.

"Don't just stand there, knuckleheads," he grunted as he tried to break free. "Do something!!"

The other thugs dropped their bags and both took out a knife but Bolt jumped off the seat and glared at them, growling and baring his teeth.

"Oh, damn!" the dog-phobic thug said stumbling back into the other thug.

"Hey, man!" he exclaimed. "Watch were you goin'!"

Another passenger, this one a burly man got up and put the third thug in a chokehold. As the dog-phobic thug turned to help his partner he yelled out in pain and looked down to see Bolt had dug his teeth into his leg. The thug stumbled, trying to get away.

"GET THIS CRAZY DOG AWAY FROM ME!!!" he screamed when an elderly woman stood up and whacked him in the back of the head knocking him out. The third thug fell unconscious from the chokehold he was in and the burly man let him drop to the floor.

"Oh, great," the lead thug, who was still stuck in the bear hug, grumbled.

A reporter was interviewing the three people who had apprehended the three thugs while Bolt was sitting with Shelly, her mother, and her younger brother watching the interview take place. _You know being a silent hero isn't as bad as it seems. Alright, technically I'm not the hero but I did help out._ Bolt wagged his tail when he notice the cat in a woman's arms was glaring at him. Bolt growled at the cat when Shelly snapped her fingers.

"Stop?" she asked. Bolt immediately turned to her. _Wait. Did she just ask me to stop?_

Shelly rubbed a hand on his head and, "Good boy. You're above that cat. He's not worth your time."

Bolt smiled and wagged his tail. _She does have a point. Cats are just a waste of fur._

Meanwhile, in the crowd that was being kept at bay from the bus, the door attendant stood watching the dog. He ducked his head and walked out of the crowd.

He took out a blue tooth headset from his pocket and put it in his ear. "Boss. You there?"

"/Did you see the dog?/"

"Yeah. He's with another kid this time."

"/You know what to do./"

The man nodded. "Got it." He took the headset out of his ear and put it back in his pocket. He walked over to a dumpster and around to the opposite side where a briefcase was lying. He opened it and inside was a police uniform.

The man peered out of the alley then confidently strolled through the crowd. He strolled up to Ambulance where Shelly, her family, and Bolt were at. When he was near, Bolt picked up on the scent and whirled around as he stopped in front of them.

"'Scuse me, miss. We need to take that dog of yours."

"What? Why?" Shelly asked surprised at the demand.

"Well from what we've gather," he started, "This dog bit someone in the leg, right?"

"Well, yeah. One of the robbers," Shelly explained.

"What does biting have to do with taking the dog, officer?" her mom inquired.

"We need to test the dog and see if he has any rabies."

_Rabies! Who is this guy kidding?_ Bolt started barking and growling threateningly at the officer, drawing unwanted attention his way. Shelly tried holding Bolt back as he continued to snarl at the man.

"Oh, to hell with this," he said to himself and then snatched the dog out of the girls grip. A detective with dark hair wearing a suit caught the man as he began to run off.

"Hey!!" he yelled and gave chase.

Bolt struggled to break the man's grip, but even as he could the man kept getting his hold back. The man looked back and could see the detective was starting to catch up. Bolt tried to press his arm away again. When it was far enough, he clamped down. A cracking sound could be heard from his forearm. The man yelled out in pain and stopped in his tracks, allowing the detective to tackle him to the ground. He let go of the dog, which ran off.

"Next time you try to run, make sure you can outrace a cop," he said as he took out his cuffs. "You're under arrest."

Jennifer and Penny arrived at the scene on Jennifer's own scooter.

"How exactly is this an upgraded model of mine?" Penny asked as she stepped off the scooter and undid her helmet.

"I'll tell you later kiddo," she replied with a smirk. She stepped off next and took off her helmet. "Right now let's get your dog back."

Penny and Jennifer pushed through the crowd, but as soon as they got through and near the scene an officer stopped them.

"Sorry, ma'am. Can't let you or your daughter pass," he said.

"Uh, first of all…" Penny started but was shushed by her aunt.

She reached into the pocket of her jeans and took out a badge.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized. "Had to pick her up from my ex." Penny gave her a quizzical looked.

"Sorry, detective Leon," he said as he held up the tape for her to walk under. "Didn't recognize you."

Jennifer walked under the tape then turned back to Penny as the tape was lowered.

"I'll be right back," she avowed then turned and head into the crime scene.

Penny crossed her arms and huffed. _Why do I get stuck in the crowd, when I should be seeing if my dog's alright?_ Her expression softened as she sighed. _Maybe I'm going a little too overboard with that. I mean, Bolt is a super dog after all. I'm sure he's probably fine._

"So can you fill me in on what happened?" Jennifer asked. She was talking to a detective with brown hair, wearing a suit, as well.

"Well, we had a bus that was being robbed by three men," he explained. "One of them armed and then suddenly his gun explodes. The three are apprehended shortly after."

"Anything else, Detective Taylor?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "One of my guys caught someone who was trying to make off with a teenage girl's dog. The man was caught but the dog got away."

Jennifer sighed and said, "'Thanks detective." She turned the detective called out her name.

"Jennifer!" She turned and looked as if she were shocked. Detective Taylor walked up to her and talked in a low voice "You know, eventually, you **are** gonna get caught."

Jennifer just smiled and replied, "Tell Hawky I said 'How's it going." Just as she was about to walk off however the detective grabbed her shoulder.

"You didn't answer my question."

She looked at him with a smirk, shrugged, and said, "You never asked."

He was starting to get annoyed. "What are you going to do when you get caught?"

She smirked replied, "When it happens, my bosses'll deal with it. See ya 'round, Mac." With that she walked off. Detective Taylor just shook his head and walked in the opposite direction.

Penny was pacing left and right, waiting for her aunt to return.

"Hey!" Jennifer called out. Penny looked up as her aunt stepped under the tape.

"Come on. Let's go," she said pulling Penny away from the scene.

"Wait! Hold on. What about Bolt?"

"Come on. We need to get back to the hotel," was all that Jennifer said as they both pushed through the crowd.

Bolt trudged through an alley. _This is just great. I'm finally gonna get back to my human and I almost get nabbed again. On top of that I'm hungry and tired, too. This truly does, very much, suck._ Bolt walked around the side of a trashcan and found an old, beaten up pillow, next to a cardboard box. _Well I guess it doesn't suck that back._ A boom resonated through out the alley causing Bolt to look up. He grabbed the pillow in his mouth and dragged it into the box which was large enough to fit both. He stepped out and nudged the pillow in the rest of the way with his nose then crawled inside just as the rain began to fall. _I just hope this box holds._ He settled down looking through the opening of the box. _I've seen what water does to this stuff. Hopefully it'll do for the night._ Bolt let out a big yawn before he fell asleep as the rain fell steady around him.


End file.
